THE STORY OF A YOUNG MAN'S 

TRAMP ACROSS 
THREE STATES 




COOKING HIS MEALS & CAMPING ALONG 

THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY MILES 

OF ROAD IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, 

VERMONT AND NEW YORK. 



Copyright IQII 
by 

William Moore 



THE MARKET PRESS, NEW YORK 



fill 



'CI.A:^02871 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER I. 

Introductory. Before the start, camping in New 
Hampshire. 

Probably a great many people believe, in a certain 
unconsidered way, that a world of new impressions and 
fascinations always remains to be discovered and en- 
joyed. But it needs some unusual experience or great 
change to prove this true. Such an experience or rath- 
er, succession of experiences, I had last Summer. In- 
deed, thinking now of my trip through New Hamp- 
shire, Vermont and New York, a distance altogether of 
three hundred and sixty miles, every footstep, every- 
scene is as vivid as if I were there now — the lonely 
mountain roads with the black snakes shooting across> 
the path, and the partridges running out for a second's 
reconnoitre; the miles of pleasant farmland, with noth- 
ing wilder than a woodchuck tumbling over a wall ; 
the crowds of villagers; the blazing heat of the midday 
sun burning my face deeper and deeper; the calm light 
of the late moon waking me out of my dreams as I 
slept in the fields — all appear to me now, more actual 
as seen in the calm distance than they were to me then; 
for, looking at such things from the depths of a com- 
fortable arm chair, one gets a truer perspective than in 
the excitement of the moment. I feel as if the sixteen 



4 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

days spent on the trip were a separate part of my life, 
and having no connection with, and unlike, any other 
time. 

I had long desired to make a long trip afoot. Why 
I wished to do so can be more easily felt than explain- 
ed. I always had a certain craving for experience; 
further, I realized that it would be wonderfully health- 
ful. That is as far as I can analyze the desire. But 
beyond all, there was a certain fascination in the idea 
of covering over three hundred miles on foot through 
a country unknown to me that took hold of my mind 
and grew more definite and positive every day until I 
had fully decided to make the trip, with some friends, 
if possible, but alone, if necessary. 

During the summer I had been camping at Lake 
Sunapee, New Hampshire. All mountain lakes are 
beautiful, each in its way, but about Sunapee there was 
a primeval atmosphere, with its clear waters and dense 
evergreen forests, and the air heavily laden with the 
rich odor of balsam, which made you think of it in the 
winter months while away in the city, and long for the 
^'forest primeval." There is such an atmosphere there 
that, if you suddenly saw an Indian shoot out from be- 
hind an island in his canoe and Vs^ar paint, you would 
not be at all surprised. The forests are so dense and 
the roads so few and poor that the water is the common 
highway, and people there seldom think of traveling 
about in any other manner but in boats, especially ca- 
noes. Naturally, the chief industry at the Lake is 
lumber cutting, and sometimes stray logs will be found 
floating out in the lake, which does not make night 
boating very safe, combined with the rocky shores, and 
dense black nights. The lake abounds in bass, pickerel, 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 5 

and even fresh water salmon. And the authorities are 
very strict about the fish and game laws. I remember' 
one Sunday afternoon when I was tied to a buoy in my 
canoe fishing, a launch came puffing along near me, and 
I noticed one of the occupants looked at me rather 
circumspectly, which I afterward remembered when I 
learned that he was the fish inspector. I had in the 
boat at the time three or four fair-sized bass but an inch 
or so undersized, which would have netted about forty 
dollars fine, if discovered. I ascribe his passing by to 
the fact that I was dressed in old clothes, which prob- 
ably gave him the impression that I was a native, who 
do not usually keep fish under the limit set by law^ — 
the city people there on vacations do not have much 
opportunity to fish at home, and keep every thing that 
comes up on their lines. That afternoon he caught two 
men with something like five fish each under the limit, 
which I think is twelve inches. 

Often in the night time wildcats were heard back in 
the mountains, although I never heard one myself; and 
at night porcupines would skulk around the camps 
looking for refuse; and, as for partridges, you would 
only have to step outside your tent when ajl was quiet 
of an afternoon, to run across a whole brood of them. 
And once or twice a bear was seen on the island where 
I v/as camping part of the time. 

In the evenings around the camip fires, eight or ten 
young fellov/s would talk enthusiastically about walk- 
ing to Mt. Washington and back, seventy-five miles 
each way, and when the Mt. Washington fever abated, 
three or four of us were for walking home to New York 
at the end of the summer. Now, like a great many 
contagious diseases, the walking fever grows steadily 



6 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

worse for about a week or two, until, in its most virulent 
stage, the victims swear they are going to walk around 
the world three or four times, immediately, without 
taking time to eat a square meal. But you finally con- 
vince them that it would be better to start in the morn- 
ing. And then — most wonderful thing — the delirium 
has passed over night, and when you are ready to start 
in the morning, for any of a hundred reasons the}^- can- 
not go. 

At Sunapee I enjoyed myself — indeed, the pleas- 
ures of the Lake were only exceeded by the trip home. 
But the summer hurried along, and those who had the 
walking contagion either were cured by time, or else 
they were unable to go for some other reason; so that 
in early August I found myself alone free to depart. 

In preparing for the tramp I decided to sacrifice 
everything possible which would add to the weight of 
my bundle and clothes. For instance, I wore simply 
an old soft hat, a gray outing shirt, a light pair of 
trousers, and as I had been wearing sneakers all sum- 
mer, I decided it was best to start the tramp with them, 
and take a pair of shoes along to substitute for the sneak- 
ers, when the latter wore out. I wore no coat, as the 
only advantage in a coat is its extra pockets, which were 
unnecessairy in this case, as everything could be put in 
the pack. I also carried a bathing suit, the purpose of 
which will be seen later on. 

In bandanna handkerchiefs were wrapped such 
foods as rice, Indian meal, oatmeal, etc., which are 
very light, and a very little will swell up to a great 
deal when cooked; and in little leather tobacco bags, I 
carried coffee, sugar, salt and pepper. My cooking 
utensils were, a frying pan and a sauce pan, both very 



A TRAMP ACROSiS THREE STATES 7 

small and light. The culinary department was com- 
pleted by the handiest little article I have ever owned, 
a combination knife, fork and spoon, in the form of a 
jackknife, which I had purchased at Sunapee Harbor 
on the lake. 

My tent was a square conical tent, about five feet 
by six at the bottom, with a rope attached to the point 
at the top, which rope could be thrown over the limb 
of a tree, thus serving as a pole; and the little loops at 
the bottom could be staked in with any odd sticks pro- 
curable. My blanket was a heavy one, sewed into a 
bag, so that it could not come off at night. Most im- 
portant of all w^as the poncho, or rubber army blanket, 
made by Bannerman, 501 Broadway, New York, six 
feet by three and a half. When I awoke in the morn- 
ings, the outside of the poncho would be dripping wet, 
but the inside dry. In the day time it could be used to 
wrap my pack in, or in rainy weather I could put my 
head through a slit in the center and use it as a cape. I 
foolishly carried a revolver, which I expressed home 
when I reached Rutland, Vermont. With an extra pair 
of socks, and a small book which I expected to read 
in the shade of a tree during the hot part of the day, 
my pack was complete. 

In laying out my ''line of march" I did not plan 
to go direct to New York, which route would follow 
the valley of the Connecticut River, but I planned to 
make a longer trip, crossing the Connecticut and going 
north by west to Lake George where some friends were 
spending the summer, and then down the Hudson 
River Valley home. I had with me ordinary pocket 
maps, Rand MacNally, of the three states I was to pass 
through, and first finding on the map the next town 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



on the route, I would inquire the way, and when I 
arrived there, would inquire the way to the next town 
on the map, and so on. I was not taking much chance, 
because every insignificant village was shown on the 
map. 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER II. 
First Daiy. .Monday, August 6. 

On the morning of Monday, the sixth of August, I 
packed my duds at camp on Birch's Point, and after 
saying farewell to my camp mate, at 1 1 \oo o'clock I 
had left Burkehaven behind me, and was following 
the road west of the Lake southward toward Mt. Sun- 
apee. 

I was off. For about a mile I felt dazed, scared. 
What I was about to do all arose before me. And then 
I was overcome by an indescribable feeling of self-con- 
fidence. Realizing that I was undertaking something 
the like of which I had never done before, and which 
most boys would not have dared attempt, that for many 
days to come I should be traveling alone, under many 
inconveniences and depending on myself in m2,ny ways 
which would tax my limited knowledge of living, I 
gained a sort of added respect for myself. It was one 
of those truly psychological moments which must al- 
ways occur when a person meets with any new, unusual 
and broad experience. Further, I felt inexpressibly 
free. Camp life, vacation life in general, is more or 
less free, but the absolute freedom of my position im- 
pressed itself upon me in a way such as helped to make 
the trip such as it ought to be. That first day was a 



10 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

really happy day, with a happiness that was not to be 
destroyed at any time during the sixteen days (with the 
possible exceptions of the second and third days), al- 
though I was to meet with many hard times, hot days, 
and other unpleasant things. 

I struck the Boston & Maine Railroads tracks at 
Mt. Sunapee station. Although I had been walking 
only about two hours, I was very hungry; so, opening 
my pack a short distance from the station, I started a 
fire, and drawing water from the station prepared a 
meal of rice, a few biscuits and coffee. Of course, 
under the circumstances, I could not very well steam- 
cook the rice, but prepared it in the simpler way, which 
tasted just as good. A small boy from a nearby 
house took considerable interest in my fire and kept 
piling it high with wood, so that I had no trouble 
cooking the rice irT about a half hour. At the time 
there was a f rieght train switching near the station, and 
just as I was about to ring the dinner bell, the caboose 
stopped directly in front of my kitchen, and the brake- 
men enjoyed themselves at my expense. One of them 
wanted to know if I were keeping open house. I told 
him no, but that I should be pleased to serve table d'hote 
dinner for seventy-five cents. 

Any tiredness which I had felt disappeared with 
the meal, and, anxious to get well forward on my first 
day, I was soon off again, starting westward along the 
tracks. The railroad was ^ one track affair, with about 
two trains each way daily, so there was no danger of 
being run down. And, as the wagon road was so in- 
direct and hilly, I decided to keep to the tracks, for a 
short time at least. 

It was not until I had been walking along the 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES H 

tracks for some time that I noticed the weight of my 
pack. I had, while planning the trip, thought that the 
weight of my belongings would be a hindrance to me, 
so had discarded many things I should have liked to 
take along. But, taking only what was necessary (so 
I thought), including provisions for a few days, my 
pack was still too heavy. At the start I had not felt 
the weight, but now it was heavy indeed, and was to 
remain so for two days. For, toward the end of the 
second day I acquired, with some assistance, a certain 
knack of balancing it which made a great difference. 

That afternoon was so hot that the perspiration 
ran off my face in a steady stream, and I drank water at 
every spring, pump, house or station I met. Such a 
statement seems exaggerated, but when one considers 
that railroad tracks are not shaded, as wagon roads are,, 
that it was the hottest month of a hot summer, and that 
I was walking at about three and a half miles per hour 
with considerable weight on my back, it can easily be 
understood. Twice I sat down under shady trees, and 
once I almost fell asleep. 

As I followed the sharp curves of the railroad, I 
noticed the gradual slope toward the valley of the 
Connecticut, which flows about twenty miles in a bee 
line from where I first met the tracks. The stations, 
Little Spectacle, Sunapee, etc., were little more than 
mere vantage spots, not large enough to be called vil- 
lages. It is hardly necessary to say that the country I 
passed through on that first day is beautiful, for all 
New England is beautiful. High, rolling country, with 
very little farmland, it had a wild appearance which 
made it very real nature. Until I entered the town of 
Newport, I met very few people. But those few seem- 



12 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

ed to feel great curiosity in my appearance and welfare, 
and were not satisfied w^ith staring, but questioned me 
like prosecuting attorneys. Some couldn't see the point, 
some thought I was walking on a wager. The old 
fellows would stick their thumbs in their suspenders, 
spread their feet apart, and after spitting out several 
pints of tobacco juice, would get off something like this : 

"Wall, mu boy, when I was your age, by gosh, 
their warn't nobody in these parts who could follow me. 
No sir, not one. Why, I remember the time — " etc. 

Or this : 

"Say, look 'e here, do you see old 'S'cutney over 
thar,'' pointing a skinny finger westward toward Mt. 
Ascutney in Vermont, "wall, I wish I had a dollar for 
every rattle snake I killed on top of that old haystack." 
And so they lied on and on, I drinking it all in humbly, 
gasping at the wonderful deeds done in the olden days. 

I stopped for a drink outside an old shanty at a 
dangerous turn in the mountains, where the railroad 
•crosses the Sugar River, a rushing stream which men- 
aces the bridge in all stormy weather. The flagman in 
the shanty, who keeps constant watch over the bridge, 
tiold me of the country in Winter, of how the temper- 
ature falls to forty degrees below zero, and the snow 
falls in depths over a man's head, of how, .in the Spring, 
the river rises into a wild torrent, sometimes carrying 
away the tracks and bridges, and how in one of the 
great Spring freshets his own son had been killed try- 
ing to save a bridge. Old enough already to be a patri- 
arch, he will probably die in the service of the railroad. 
I did not like to lea^ve him, but I had a craze to get 
ahead on that first day, so set out again to make as 
many miles as possible, greatly satisfied to have met 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 13 

with such an interesting old character. 

I entered Newport, the largest town on my route 
in New Hampshire, about five o'clock in the afternoon. 
Of course, I must have been hungry long before I 
reached the town, but I didn't realize it until I spied 
a bakery on the main street. But when I did realize it 
I couldn't wait till I got outside the town and built a 
fire and cooked my supper, but went in and bought 
some ca,kes. As I passed down the street eating the 
cakes, there was considerable curiosity among the pass- 
ersby. In fact, covered with dust and dressed more or 
less like a tramp, with a bundle strapped to my back, I 
reminded myself of Benjamin Franklin, with that bag 

• of cakes under my arm. 

Leaving Newport, I took the road running west,. 
parallel to the railroad. Just out of town the road takes 
a rise, running up for about a half-mile, and as I saw 
no suitable place in the lowland for camping, I started 
up the hill. Tired, and with my pack weighing heavily 
on me, that hill was a long slow drag. But I v/as in 
store for a surprise later in the evening which made 
me forget my tiredness. My idea w^as to pitch camp 
on some private property, if possible, so that I could 
easily drav/ water and feel secure over night. And 
with this in mind, I descried a large orchard to the left, 
when I reached the top of the hill. Now, apple trees 
have very low limbs, so I thought it would be a good 

. location for my tent. After some time, I found the 
owner of the property in one of the only two houses 
near, and explained to him what I was doing and 
asked permission to camp over night in the orchard. 
He asked me if I had a team. (People in that part of 
the country travel mostly with horses). After a little 



14 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

hesitation he showed me over the ground and I finally 
picked a spot. Meanwhile, his wife had suggested to 
him that I might camp under a great oak near the house, 
which was across the road; and this being a much better 
site, I carried my duffle over to the oak. It did not take 
very long to pitch the tent, supported by the rope over 
the lowest limb. I noticed here, as elsewhere, that 
people* are suspicious of strangers, but when they once 
decide that you are not a vagabond, they are very 
hospitable. 

I soon discovered there were four persons in the 
family who all seemed very curious about the 
'^stranger." The name of the owner, as near as I re- 
member, was Weycroft. Later on in the evening he 
proudly informed me that his father, now dead, had 
been an admiral in the United States Navy. He brought 
me out some milk, cake and some raspberries which he 
had picked that day. He was very proud of his rasp- 
berry patch, and well he might be, for the berries were 
luscious. These delicacies, with some Indian meal 
cooked, and some cofifee served as my supper. 

After supper I was invited to sit on the porch 
where I had to tell my story. Each one had a different 
idea of my purpose. An elderly lady, a school teacher, 
told me she was a high school teacher in Boston, and 
was very much disappointed when she discovered that 
I was not of Boston, and was not preparing for Harvard. 
But I was treated finely by everyone. In fact, that first 
night was my best night, so much so, that certain misgiv- 
ings which had assailed me throughout the day melted 
away before I retired to the tent. 

The oak under which I had pitched camp had 
three great trunks growing out of one, for which reason 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 15 

it was called Trinity Oak, and from it one could see 
into four counties, Sullivan, Grafton, Merrimac and 
Cheshire, as well as see Mt. Ascutney in far off Ver- 
mont, looming stately in the west, the highest mountain 
on the horizon, with the possible exception of Keasarge, 
some twenty mile to the east. That night it rained 
lightly, one of the only two showers during my journey. 
But after noting on the margin of my map that I had 
covered eleven miles that day, I soon forgot the rain 
in a dreamless sleep. 



16 A TAAJNIP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER III. 
Second Day. Tuesday, August J . 



The next morning my friends were as generous as 
ever .with their good things to eat, and I breakfasted 
like a prince, even if a prince of tramps. Then I struck 
camp, and was given a cordial farewell, after receiving 
a standing invitation to call at a.ny time I happened to 
be in that part of the country. I was sorry to leave 
them, but I was still impatient to get ahead. One of 
the few unnecessary things I had with me I left behind 
here, the little book, which I regretted afterwards more 
than once. But I decided to get rid of it, so left it on 
a bench in Mr. Weycroft's yard, under Trinity Oak. 
If he found it, I hope he enjoyed reading it. And so 
I left Newport with medals on, although I had en- 
tered it with only an appetite on. 

Although I had eaten a good breakfast, consisting 
mostly of what my friends had given me, when I came 
to a great patch of luscious raspberries at the side of 
of the road, I obeyed that old instinct of not refusing 
any of the good things of life. In fact, I spent half 
an hour picking berries. 

Not far from Weycroft's is Kellyville. Kellyville, 
like most of the stations along my route, is a mere name, 
a milk depot, with nothing visible but a few milk cans 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 17 

on a platform, and green fields all around. The road 
crosses the tracks here, and while passing, a boy in a 
milk wagon offered me a ride. Of course, I accepted. 
The novelty of riding was pleasant indeed, for I had 
not yet become accustomed to walking the whole day 
without rest. Like everybody else I met the boy was 
curious to know what I was about. He was a typical 
country boy, and thought he could never do enough to 
oblige a stranger, and whipped the poor horse until it 
could go no faster. It was a hot day, too, so that by 
the time the wagon turned out of my way the horse had 
earned a good day's rest, which he was not to get, for, 
as the boy explained, he had to make three trips daily 
to Kellyville, only the first of which was then being 
completed. 

All along I had been watching out for apples. It 
was rather early for fruit, but I had heard tha,t red 
aspens were ripe. Soon after my ride in the wagon I 
spied some fine apples over a fence. After making a 
cursory inspection of the nearby landscape, looking 
for parties who might dispute my right, as a man of 
the road to other people's property, I climbed over and 
filled my pockets. They were especially good, as I took 
a certain risk in trespassing. A hundred yards ofif, a 
coon dog barked fiercely, but luckily, he was chained 
and attracted no attention. With my pockets full, I 
had enough to eat and some with which to make apple- 
sauce for my next meal. The success of this exploit so 
emboldened me that'I was careless on another occasion 
df the same character and came near getting into 
trouble. 

By the time I had forgotten about the apples, I 
was nearing Clermont. About a mile out of Clermont 



18 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

a Splendid view is obtained of Mt. Ascutney, frowning 
down on the valley, seemingly only half a mile away, 
but actually five or six. I soon caught up with some 
folk going in the same direction. After a time some 
farm hands, dressed in their Sunday best, told me that 
^'I had better hurry up." I soon found there was a 
circus in town. I reached the main street just in tim^ 
to see the parade. Judging from the length of the 
show, and the noise of the music, it seemed as big as 
the fa^mous circuses seen in New York and other big 
cities. Andi although the performance was not to be- 
gin until 2:00 o'clock (it was then 11:00), the place 
was thronged with people from the whole country 
'round. If I had stopped longer in Clermont, I might 
have seen many interesting things, but it was only my 
second day, and the craze to get ahead was still on me. 

So I sta.rted again westward along the tracks. 
Though the heat of the blazing sun was burning my 
face deeper and deeper, I did not mind it, for even in 
two days I had lost all superfluous weight, resulting in 
less perspiration. Furthermore, the pack, though still 
heavy, seemed to have become a part of my body, so 
accustomed was I to it already. 

A few miles out of Clermont I cooked dinner. 
Putting the apples on to stew, I fried a small round 
steak I had bought in Clermont. Having only a sauce 
pan and frying pan, I made cofifee after I had eaten 
the apple sauce. Of course, I had salt and sugar in 
small leather bags, making my meals seem quite home- 
like. 

About one o'clock that afternoon I reached Cler- 
mont Junction. Here the Boston & Maine meets the 
railroad from New York to Quebec, and, although there 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 1» 

are but one or two houses about, it is important as a 
junction. In the station I weighed my pack. It was 
exactly twenty-eight pounds, including my rubber 
blanket, which I usually carried over my arm, as the 
strap of the bundle cut it. As can easily be imagined, 
such a weight is not at all light to one unaccustomed 
to traveling in that way. But I was in luck here, for I 
met an old soldier who showed me just how to set the 
pack on the back so as to balance properly, in knap- 
sack form. Now, I had tried to carry it as a knapsack 
before, but the straps had cut into my armpits too 
sharply. This man showed me the only way, setting 
the bundle so that the strap which passed underneath 
the bundle passed up over the shoulders, and pulling 
very lightly on the armpits. I suppose others have had 
their troubles when traveling afoot at first, and it would 
be well for anyone before starting on a long tramp to 
first learn the knack of carrying ^'baggage." 

I was now nearing Vermont. The Connectictit 
River, dividing it from New Hampshire, is but a mile 
from Clermont Junction. When I reached the river,, 
which is only about one hundred yards wide here, I 
saw what is called a chain ferry. It was like a small 
steel scow, with a chain at either end, the chains con- 
nected by wheels with a cable strung across stream. 
The chain on the rear end is loosened, the ferry turning 
to face the opposite shore on a bias. The force of the 
current then moves the boat along very slowly, just as 
the wind does a sailboat when tacking. When I reached 
the shore, I saw a sign saying that the ferryman could 
be hailed by ringing a bell back on the road about a 
quarter of a mile. So, back I went along the same road 
I had traversed. The ferryman did not seem to be in 



20 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

a hurry, for a half hour passed before he came in sight. 
I passed the interval gazing at Mt. Ascutney, now with- 
in gunshot. It had no snow on it, but it looked almost 
high enough. Being surrounded by no immediate 
mountains, round at the top, and almost bilaterally 
symmetrical, it reminds one of a huge hay stack, like 
the buttes of the Rocky Mountains. While w^aiting 
here, I also managed to drop my IngersoU in two or 
three inches of water, but, tough old clock that it was, 
it did not seem to mind the bath, but kept on with as 
m.uch noise as ever. (In the dead silence of night you 
could hear the tick all over the mountains). 

The ferryman did come at last, and we were off, 
after a little manoeuvering. Of course such ferries 
have no docks. They simply grate up on the sand, and 
you jump out, taking a certain risk of wetting your feet, 
paying five cents for the privilege of doing so, and re- 
ceiving a dark frown when you refuse to buy some 
soda water the ferryman carries in a little box on board. 

A person feels many new impressions at such a 
time. Jumping off a ferryboat into a State one has never 
visited before is a novelty, indeed. The landing was 
nothing but the beginning of a lonely road. Indeed, 
the next twenty miles were to be the loneliest part of the 
trip, for, from the Connecticut to Cavendish I was to 
pass through country very scarcely inhabited, a country 
with no railroads. I may truthfully say that m the next 
twenty miles, passing through three villages (so called) , 
I did not meet ten people. 

A mile from the river is Weathersfield Bow. There 
were two houses and a barn visible as the whole village. 
At one of the houses I got a drink and inquired my way. 

From Weathersfield Bow to Weathersfield Center 



A TRAIMP ACROSS THREE STATES 21 

is four miles, four miles on a hilly wood road winding 
up over the mountains. So little was the road used, that 
although the sun was at its height, in parts not a ray of 
sunlight pierced the overhanging growth. Just outside 
the Bov/ is a mournful little cemetery, which, in that 
lonely country, impressed me in about the same way a 
ghost would. My only wonder at seeing it w^as, where 
they found the people to bury. 

When I had covered about a mile of this rugged 
road, and was well up the mountain, I heard, faintly 
coming from the woods on my right, the sound of 
someone singing. Passing further on, it became more 
distinct. It was a pure soprano voice, and, as I reason- 
ed afterwards, it must have come from some hut in 
the woods nearby, but at the moment this singularly 
beautiful music breathed, as it were, from the depths 
of the forest, cast a m3^stical spell over me in my loneli- 
ness, and made me feel sort of homesick for the rest of 
that day. 

After taking a short rest at a crossroads near the 
top of the mountain, I started again for Weathersfield 
Center, and soon came to a house. Stopping for a 
drink, I asked the way to the Center. "Why, this is 
Weathersfield Center," she said. A few hundred yards 
further on was a small church, and then a little ways 
another house — that was the whole village. 

After quitting the outskirts of this large and in- 
teresting metropolis, I found myself in a flat country 
with beautiful farm lands. Here runs the Black River. 
And black it w^as, although I daresay the water was 
pure, and the bottom composed of black rocks. At 
leaiSt I later drank out of it and survived. The sun was 
beginning to sink now, and I thought it time to look 



22 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

out for a suitable camping place. And I had a beautiful 
time. My first day's luck was to be reversed. Every- 
body seemed afraid of me when I asked permission to 
camp on their property. I began with the farmers, but 
before long I found myself in the village of Perkin- 
ville. Here too, I was refused, with the result that I 
began to have a very bad idea of my appearance. One 
old lady said she should have to see her son, who was 
not at home. Never afterwards did I bother any private 
people. When I was tired, I simply dropped on the 
spot, regardless of where I was, sometimes on a river 
bank, sometimes in the fields, and sometimes in the 
w^oods. Well, by the time I was disgusted with the 
people of Vermont and rather cypical about the world 
in general, I spied a little green slope near the foot of 
a roaring falls, and there I camped. 

Being a lovely evening, I decided to cook supper 
before setting up the tent, for I was ravishingly hungry. 
Supper was soon over with, and that little feeling of 
loneliness was coming back again, which I had forgotten 
for a while. But just then I remembered that down in 
the bottom of my pack was a pipe and tobacco, which in 
my hustle I had forgotten during that day. A pipe! a 
real pipe! Well, for an hour afterwards I was some- 
^where on the second or third cycle of paradise. No 
incense was ever more holy, no dreamer more content. 
I sat and watched the clouds till they faded and the 
stars came out on a peaceful night, with nothing astir 
but the falls with their constant roar, and the turbulent 
rush and gurgle of the waters at my feet. Then I 
started to put up the tent. But now why should I put 
up the tent? I asked myself. The night was clear and 
there was no need of it. Instead, I put on my bathing 



A TRAMP ACROSS TKREE STATES 23 

suit and washed some things and hung them up to dry 
on a nearby tree. Oh, but wasn't the water cold, when 
I tried to take a bath! I had to run up and down the 
grass for ^ve minutes to warm up. And then, crawling 
into my blanket and wrapping the tent and poncho 
around me I was soon in the land of nod. I was soon 
to find out my mistake in not putting up the tent, for 
I received a scare that night which could have been 
avoided. 

Two or three times in the night I awoke and 
thought I heard the sound of cow bells, but soon fell 
asleep again. I don't know how long after that it 
seemed as if something was hitting me in the back with 
considerable force. I turned over, still half asleep, 
and looked into the face of some sweet person with 
great innocent eyes. But its nose seemed to be all over 
its face. Then it began licking my ear. Then I jumped 
up like a jack-in-the-box and stumbled against a cow. 
The poor thing was more frightened than I, and went 
splashing off into the river, and I saw it no more. What 
it was doing there at that hour I cannot say, but I do 
know that my back was sore. 

Distance for day 23 miles, total 34. 



24 A TR.AMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER IV. 



Third Day. Wednesday, August 8. 

The world was asleep next morning when I left 
on a long detour to Cavendish. This town is about three 
miles from Perkinsville in a bee line, but the only road 
is nine miles, following the Black River around the 
mountains. Here the river runs through a small, but 
lonely gorge, with the mountains shutting out the sun- 
light during the early part of the day, and the black 
rocks and water seeming to increase the gloom. But 
when I had walked about five miles, at the junction of 
two roads, I met a young fellow in a wagon, and got a 
hitch into Cavendish. The driver was working on his 
father's farm, it seemed. On the farm was a mill pond, 
he told me, on which there was to be that very evening 
some swimming races, to which he invited me to be a 
spectator. He himself had won the championship in 
the tub races the previous year, while his brother won 
a prize for distance under water. This would have been 
very interesting, if I could have only realized it then, 
but I refused, as I wished to reach Healdville th \t 
night. 

In Ca,vendish I actually saw ten people at once. 
I felt like a savage coming out of the wilderness on a 
settlement. At Cavendish I met the Rutland Railroad, 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 25 

following which I struck out towards Proctors ville, 
which I reached about noon. Soon after leaving this 
place, I cooked dinner. It was a sultry, drowsy day^ 
and as I lay in the shade of an apple tree, smoking 
and watching the cows standing in the river, I began 
to feel the pleasure of the trip, and so contented did I 
feel that I fell asleep. But as before, the fates disturbed 
me in the shape of cows, the jangling of their bells wak- 
ing me in the midst of a dream wherein I was climbing 
over a mountain about seventy miles high. 

There was a steady, perceptible rise in the rail- 
road along here. In fact, from Bellows Falls to Sum- 
mit, a distance of about forty miles, the road rises over 
the Green Mountains, reaching a height above sea 
level of nearly four thousand feet. The rise in even 
twenty miles is appreciable in the temperature. 

Along here I strolled all afternoon, reaching Lud- 
low about four. Stopping in the station for a drink, I 
met a fellow who said he thought I was from New 
S^ork. When I told him I was he was delighted, and 
we congratulated each other. He said that he was 
glad to talk to some '^sane, civilized, tame" individual. 
It seemed that he was disgusted w^ith the simplicity of 
the little New England village. I pointed out to rdm 
that he was in the midst of picturesque mountains, the 
very same mountains where Ethan Allen and his "boys" 
had held their escapades. At that he stared at me in 
a sort of delirious sort of way, as if I too were infected 
>with the same contagion as the New Englanders. 

"Why," he expostulated, "they haven't even got a 
liquor license. Further, I have been waiting here for a 
train all day, and from the looks of things will have 
to wait another." The latter part of his speech I found 



26 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

to be wrong, for as many as two trains ran over the 
road daily. 

The Green Mountains along here are full of 
grandeur. Leaving Ludlow the valley lies below on 
one side, while the mountains tower above on the other. 
Far off to the northward, range piles upon range in 
the hazy light, while over all was the full glory of the 
afternoon sun, calling to mind the limitless domain of 
nature before the onward march of the cities. 

On the way from Ludlow to Healdville, I noticed 
many large wild birds, probably havv^ks, circling over 
the valley, while partridges seemed as plentiful in that 
wild country as chickens on a farm. In fact, I should 
judge the country to be fine in the hunting season, for 
at my approach the nearby foliage was in almost con- 
tinual disturbance from the game of various sorts, flee- 
ing at my approach. 

Healdville consists of about one house. As it was 
about five o'clock, and the place near a spring, I de- 
cided to stop for the night. But, when I had about fin- 
ished supper, a man came out of the house nearby, and 
guessing my business, told me that at Summit, the next 
station, about a mile further on, there was a night agent 
who kept the place open all night for freight purposes, 
and that as he was a good sort of a fellow, he would 
probably let me keep him company. Now, although I 
was accustomed by this time to sleeping out of doors, 
at the same time, I was glad of the opportunity of 
human intercourse. So I wrapped up again, and pushed 
on through a long, black tunnel, with water dripping 
from the roof, and some kind of animals, probably rats, 
scurrying around hither and thither as I advanced. 

The agent at Summit certainly was a fine fellow. 



A TRAMP ACROSiS THREE STATES 27 

Of course, he had some scruples about letting me sleep 
in the station, for it was against the rules of the com- 
pany, but at last he consented. Thinking at first that 
I was in a hurry to reach Rutland, he offered to put 
me aboard a freight which would pass through there 
about ten o'clock that night, but I soon put him at rest 
on that point. Then we fell to talking and kept it up 
for nearly two hours, when I decided to go to sleep, for 
as the agent told me, the station would be closed at two 
in the morning. Of course, I had to sleep on the floor. 
Now, although the softest spot I could find was still 
rather hard, I was glad to sleep indoors because of the 
warmth, for at an altitude of four thousand feet the 
nights are rather chilly in the open. 

Distance for day 20 miles, total 54. 



28 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER V. 

Fourth Day. Thursday, August Q. 

It was dark next morning when I arose and cooked 
my breakfast outside the station, after having some dif- 
ficulty in finding dry sticks for the fire, as there had 
been a frost over night. Taking a warm leave of my 
new friend, I left with the purpose of making Rutland, 
nineteen miles away, soon after noon. By the agent's 
advice, I left the tracks just before reaching Mt. Holly, 
following a more direct route toward Rutland, and 
touching the railroad again near Cuttingsville, and 
gaining thereby about three miles over the railroad, and 
also having a fine opportunity to try my prowess with a 
fierce coon dog which attacked me along here. By as 
dexterously as possible swinging my pack between us, 
I managed to keep him off for a while. But I thought 
it would never end. At last, just as I was swinging the 
bundle around my head, ready to let it fly at the dog, 
in an attempt to annihilate it, and feeling like the 
champion hammer thrower of the world at bay, the 
owner magically appeared from somewhere and called 
him off. Then I discovered that had I thrown the 
bundle there would probably have been an eclipse of 
the sun caused by several thousand articles flying over 
the landscape. The bundle was a wreck. 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 29 

It was just after this that I met the first tramp of 
my travels. New England is singularly free of tramps, 
because of the natural industry of the people, and also 
owing to the aversion of the farmers and townspeople 
toward them. A Vermont farmer would as soon ''sic" 
a dog on a tramp as he would call one off a respectable 
person. This particular tramp was a patriarchal look- 
ing personage, brown as an Indian with the sun of 
many summers. He was scrupulously dressed, 
but not so very scrupulously clean. Giving 
me the fraternal nod he inquired whither I was bound, 
and whether I had any money. I told him about the 
dog. Apparently not satisfied with his cross examin- 
ation, and paying no attention to my remarks about the 
dog down the road, he passed. I can still picture him 
as he trudged onward and dropped out of sight over 
the hill. 

I met the railroad tracks again just before passing 
through Cuttingsville. Here I stopped and had a 
second breakfast, for I had been travelmg over two 
hours and was nearly famished. It was there that the 
inspiration occurred to me of lightening my pack. A 
frying pan which I used but seldom, and which could 
easily be substituted by the sauce pan, and the pair of 
rubber sneakers which I had worn out, I decided to 
throw away. So, out on the breeze they sailed and 
down into the Mill River, being last seen floating in 
the direction of Otter Creek. If; perchance, any needy 
wanderer espy them, the right of possession is his (or 
hers). 

After passing through South Clarendon, I saw to 
my left a garden of Eden in the guise of an apple or- 
chard, with one tree of special beauties. By the divine 



go A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

right of men of the road, I climbed over, aud was hav- 
ing my full when the lady of the house came out and 
•w^anted to know my business there. Luckily, I was in 
need of matches, and the inspiration struck me at the 
right moment, so I asked if she could spare me a few. 
A sort of lie that served a double purpose. Of course 
the apples were not explained, but she asked no further 
questions, but smiled and got the matches. 

Between South Clarendon and North Clarendon 
there is a stretch of sandy waste. This, together with 
the intense heat of the sun, reminded one of a desert. 
But it did not last long, for about noon I passed through 
North Clarendon and was within sight of Rutland. I 
now hurried a little, for I decided to have a good sub- 
stantial meal, to say nothing of a few delicacies, in the 
city of Rutland. The fare I had been living on was 
good, but too plain. 

As a usual thing, money does not come to me un- 
expectedly, but just before entering Rutland, I saw, 
lying on a tie, all covered with green mould, a whole 
penny. It is my only souvenir of Vermont, and I have 
it yet. 

The railroad passes at the outskirts of Rutland a 
race track, on which, at the moment, there was a lively 
trotting match. But it was soon over and I was in the 
town in a few minutes. Rutland has a population of 
only eleven thousand, but it is the second largest city 
in Vermont, and moreover, it is as busy a place in the 
business section as lower Broadway in New York. I 
first went to the post office, for I had given directions 
at Lake Sunapee whence I had started, that all mail 
addressed there be forwarded to Rutland up tc a cer- 
tain date. At the post office I was overjoyed to receive 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 31 

a letter, to hear from somebody I knew. As I loitered 
down the street, feeling lost in the whirl and rush of the 
busy little city, having practically come out of a wilder- 
ness, some newsboys were standing on the corner, thrust- 
ing their papers in the faces of passersby. Now, I was 
ignorant of the fact that New York papers circulated 
further than Albany, so that when I heard the old 
familiar cry of "Woild or Joinal," I started, not believ- 
ing at first what I hoped. I had not seen a news- 
paper since leaving New York for New Hampshire, 
nearly two months before. But soon I had a copy of 
several New York papers tucked under my arm, and 
highly elated, was shortly after buried in newspapers 
and spattering gravy over myself in a restaurant. How 
long I ate, and what I didn't eat I do not now remember, 
but when one has walked nineteen miles in the forenoon 
and has been in the open air so many days, one acquires 
quite an appetite. 

Leaving the restaurant at last, I wandered toward 
the depot, and sitting down on a chain stretched be- 
tween two posts tried to finish reading my papers. But 
I soon noticed that I was a cynosure, especially of the 
newsboys. I started to look myself over to see if there 
was anything particular the matter with me. Of 
course, I was rather dusty, and rather brown, also pretty 
much in need of a shave. And there was that huge 
bundle! And then something struck me. I had not 
used it since the first night out, and why should I carry 
it any further. I could trust to luck in the matter of 
weather, and even hotel it. Besides, I had my rubber 
blanket or poncho along with me, and in a pinch could 
creep into a barn. Finding an express office, I shipped 
the tent, together with the revolver which I had fool- 



32 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

lishly cajried with me, home to New York. I set out 
of Rutland about two o'clock along the Delaware and 
Hudson tracks. I had become so accustomed to carry- 
ing a heavy pack that when I started from this city with 
a mere twelve pounds, I seemed to be walking on air — 
I fairly flew along. 

In a little over an hour I had left Rutland behind, 
and was passing through West Rutland, soon after 
which I met the Castleton River, a branch of the Poult- 
ney, which in turn flows into Champlain. The Castle- 
ton River runs parallel with the Delaware and Hud- 
son and the trolley tracks which connect Rutland with 
Fairhaven near the New York state line, and touching 
at intermediate points. Traveling along here I noticed 
car loads of marble at the different towns. Upon in- 
quiry I found there were numerous quarries back in the 
ni( untains to the northward, and in fact, that quarrying 
was the principle industry of that part of Vermont. 

Twilight was approaching as I entered Castleton, 
^vhich is, I believe, the nearest station for Lake Bomo- 
seen, much-visited in the summer, and famous for its 
fishing. Some of the natives were under the impression 
that I was bound for Bomoseen to camp. As I passed 
through the station, a driver shouted at me, "Hack, sir! 
hack to the hotel!" Now, the word "hotel" suggested 
to me that I sleep there just for a change. When I 
reached the hostlery a boy wanted to know where my 
horse was. I couldn't exactly satisfy him on that point. 

Instead of having the pleasure of swimming in the 
rivers, I now had a real bath, and a real bed, with a 
real mattress, which seemed to sink down, down, down, 
for I hadn't slept in a bed since I left New York two 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 33 

months before. And the entire charge was only fifty 
cents. 

Parenthetically, I should say here that I intended 
visiting some friends at Lake George, which I should 
reach next day toward evening as I calculated. This 
made it necessary for me to send a postal from Castle- 
ton to these friends apprising them of my intention; 
which postal did not reach them until after my arrival. 

Distance for day 27 miles, total 81. 



34 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER VI. 

Fifth Day. Frida^y, August 10. 

In order to reach Lake George by sundown next 
day, I had to rise early in the morning. (In fact, on the 
whole trip I rose early, sleeping in the open seeming 
to refresh me more quickly than indoors). Managing 
to find an open barber at six A. M., I was out of town 
soon after that hour. As I passed along I could hear 
the sound of the twittering birds in their early morning 
song, and see the smoke curling up from the chimneys 
of the neat, white-painted farm houses. These same 
quiet little homesteads were soon to be contrasted with 
the comparatively unkempt appearance of the houses 
on the farms and in the towns of New York State. 

Of all the pretty towns on my way, Fairhaven,*the 
last place in Vermont that I passed through, is the 
pleasantest. Although very small it has a beautiful 
little park in the center and an imposing hotel facing 
the park and but a short distance from the railroad 
station. It was here that I caused consternation by 
refusing to accept a Canadian five-cent piece. Being 
so near the frontier, almost as much of this money is in 
circulation as United States coin. But as I should soon 
be in New York City, I did not wish to have any with 
me. So, after dissipating in soda, I handed a quarter 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 35 

to the lady, and upon being offered Canadian change, 
and refusing to accept it, the lady was quite indignant. 
But I came out alive, and am able to tell the tale. 

Between Fairhaven and the state line, which is 
only about a mile and a half distant, I met two young 
tramps who were so hard-looking that for an instant 
I felt that I should have liked to have a revolver handy. 
But they were pleasant enough, and giving the fraternal 
nod, passed on. The state line is marked with a broad 
sign with the name of each state printed on the proper 
side. Also, with my initials on the New York State 
sides, for I couldn't resist shouting my name to the 
winds in that good old-fashioned way. 

After crossing the state line, I realized that to 
reach Huelitts Landing, Lake George, before dark, I 
should have to hustle, and quickened my pace. But the 
road bed along here was so sandy that I had to take 
to the wagon road. I hadn't gone far before I met a 
miserly looking old farmer who thought I was looking 
for work. He offered me a job haying. His face was 
so mean that I felt a sort of spite towards him. I pre- 
tended to want work, and inquired concerning details. 
I should get six dollars monthly and board, and my 
hours would be from five in the morning to seven in 
the evening, for an easy day's work. I refused the job 
on the ground of small pay. He offered to raise it to 
seven. Then I told him I had heard of his bad reputa- 
tion as far east as Rutland, and that I wouldn't work 
for him under any circumstances. Our parting was 
sad. I received various imprecation? and wishes con^ 
cerning my life here and hereafter, and, in fact, he was 
minded to get down from his wagon and chastise me, 
but I told him I had a gun on me, and he desisted. 



^€ A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

Soon after I came within sight of Whitehall with 
its smoke, and a view of Champlain off to the right. 
What a difference between the towns of New England 
and those of New York. New England with its clean, 
white, neat houses and children, and New York with 
its old, unpainted and patched houses and its dirty- 
faced, ragged boys and girls. Incidentally, it might be 
remarked that Vermont and New Hampshire at 
least, of the New England states, have no liquor license, 
while in New York towns you will find saloons making 
a profitable living where there are no other stores do- 
ing so. Possibly this has something to do with the condi- 
tions which I observed. Whitehall is full of factories 
lined along on either side of the Champlain Canal, 
connecting the lake with Albany, seventy-eight miles 
south. A beautiful feature of Whitehall is that the 
railroad runs down the main street where many of the 
better residences are. Imagine a freight train coming 
down the street at the dead of night, especially when 
the houses of that street are on elevated plots, thereby 
enclosing the noise more. 

At demons, seven miles north, I should have to 
strike westward over the mountains to Huelitts Land- 
ing. At the station in Whitehall I inquired about this 
road. I had heard that it was about as steep as a 
precipice, running almost straight up for three miles 
and then straight down for three more. The baggage 
iman said that actually it was only six miles over, but 
that by the time you reached the lake, you would think 
it a hundred, if not more, and that after you had reached 
the top and expected to rest on the downward go, you 
found that you could not prevent yourself from run- 
ning, so steep was it. He also suggested that you might 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 37 

roll, which would have dire results, or even possibly 
jump, for if you jumped out far enough, you would 
reach the bottom without touching the sides of the 
mountain. This, of course, is slightly exaggerated, as 
can be found upon actual observation, but when you 
come to think it over afterwards when comfortably 
smoking a pipe and dreaming about past experiences, 
it seems to be true. So I prepared for it. 

I followed the tracks along the Champlain. The 
lake is very narrow at this southern part, and rather 
shallow too, I should judge. Tliere was very little life 
on k at the time, a few row boats and canoes, with here 
and there a launch. Not far from Whitehall I had to 
pass over a long trestle, but before I had completed it 
a train came rushing up, and I had to hang on the out- 
side of a girder till it passed. It was not a narrow es- 
cape, but it was a caution for future reference. 

After walking so many days my legs seemed tire- 
less, which showed to advantage from demons to Lake 
George. The road was unusually steep, with few level 
stretches, as generally are found on mountain roads, but 
it seemed to be always going up. About halfway to 
the top there is a monument, with some guns, in mem- 
ory of somebody or other, whose name I have forgotten, 
but it was interesting, although it seemed out of place 
up there where few people could ever see it. 

After losing my way once in this region, and mak- 
ing inquiries at the only farm house near the top of the 
mountain, I at last found Huelitts Landing, and sought 
out the house of my friends. They were sitting on the 
porch and were almost shocked at my sudden appear- 
ance, for my postal had not arrived, and they thought 
me hundreds of miles away. But they were glad to 



38 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

see me, and I was indeed glad to see them, for I hadn't 
seen a familiar face for five days. 

After telling my adventures, I ate the first re- 
spectable meal since leaving Rutland, at the hotel. 
Then, between rowing on the lake, which is most beau- 
tiful just here, and smoking on the veranda of the hotel 
till nearly midnight, I passed the time very pleasantly, 
finally retiring to an open field to camp. Here I 
leaned some boards against each other to shelter me 
from the wind, which, with a light rain, was blowing 
in off the lake, and then putting some boards on the 
ground and wrapping myself in the rubber blanket, I 
was soon fast asleep. 

Distance for day 27 miles, total 108. 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 39 



CHAPTER VII. 

Sixth Day. At Lake George. Saturday, August II. 

By a sort of habit I awoke next morning at four, 
and could not sleep any loi^ger, although I was still 
tired, for the day before I had traveled twenty-seven 
miles. I strolled about the point admiring the scenery. 
The mountains are high and grand opposite this point, 
the lake is dotted with islands and the inlets are so 
numerous and intricate as to give it almost the appear- 
ance of stage scenery. The water is very pure and 
clear, and looks yellow on account of the sandy bottom. 
I had heard stories of bears and so forth in the woods 
on the other side of the lake, and from the appearance 
I could well believe it, although bears are rather scarce 
in that part of the state, being more plentiful further 
north. In about an hour the owner of the hotel, land- 
ing, store and everything about the place came out and 
opened the store, where I bought some provisions and 
cooked my breakfast before anyone else was stirring. 

Soon after my friends came out, and as they were 
preparing for a plunge in the lake, and as one of them 
kindly lent me a bathing suit, I was soon among them. 
The water refreshed me and drove away the sleepiness. 

The rest of the day I spent at the lake resting, and 
in fact, sleeping in an armchair. I noticed one thing, 



40 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATEiS 

that in a hotel with a capacity of about one hundred, 
there were about two hundred persons accomodated, 
mostly young people, being an evidence of the great 
popularity of Huelitts Landing as a Summer resort. 

All in all, it was a drowsy day, and when towards 
evening, one of my friends suggested that I sleep on 
one of the islands a little off shore, I readily took up 
with the notion. I first made an agreement to meet 
two or three of my friends early the next morning, and 
they would climb partly over the mountain with me. 
I then rowed over to the island, and drawing the boat 
up I turned it over, leaning it so as to protect me from 
the windward side, and crawling under was soon asleep. 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 41 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Seventh Day. Sunday, August I2th. 

Next morning, after waiting what seemed an in- 
terminable time for my friends, and tliinking they pre- 
ferred staying in bed on a Sunday morning, I started 
alone, intending to make it a record day in point of 
distance. Hitherto, I had made no attempt to speed up, 
but on this day I decided to test my legs. I afterwards 
found out that my friends were up, but from, that day 
to this there has been a dispute as to who was right 
about the matter. They are positive they were ready 
for me at the stated hour, but I was unable to find them 
long after the time of the appointment. 

It was Sunday, and the early morning hush in the 
mountains gave it a sabbath air. Retracing my steps 
up the mountain, I soon reached the top, and met the 
sun in a blaze of glory atop the mountains far off in 
Vermont, and lighting up Champlain at my feet. The 
Adirondacks in all their majesty and the splendour of 
a perfect day filled me with wonder, and it was a full 
quarter of an hour before I proceeded on my way again. 

It was just on the descent that I came across si^ 
large partridges on the verge of the woods. At this 
time of the year, before the hunting season begins, they 
are as tame as chickens, and I came within twenty feet 
of them before they took wing. 



42 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

The fine air of the mountains giving me a tobacco 
appetite, I discovered that I had left my pipe behind 
me at Lake George, so had to put the matter off till I 
reached Whitehall. 

Lower Champlain was decked with fishing boats 
as I passed down the Delaware & Hudson tracks to- 
wards Whitehall, which I soon reached. All along 
the main street I could find only one tobacco store open, 
which was a little place having nothing but clay pipes. 
As I could get no better, I bought a clay pipe. That 
pipe I smoked all the way to New York. I also bought 
some cake here in town, for I was already hungry, 
having traveled twelve miles since the start. Leading 
out of Whitehall southward toward Fort Edward, I 
followed along the tow path of the Champlain Canal, 
the wagon road, or the D. & H. tracks, all three of 
which run parallel. At Fort Edward, which I reached 
early the next day, the railroad diverges to the west, 
meeting the canal again at Mechanicville, from which 
point they run on together to Albany. At Fort Edward 
also, the road meets the Hudson River, a muddy, stag- 
nant, unnavigable stream, no wider than a stone's throw. 

I started my pipe going, and set out through this 
flat country, sometimes following the railroad, some- 
times the road, and sometimes the tow path, which latter 
is the most level, but also the most circuitous. This 
country, as all canal country must be, is dreary, with 
the same monotonous landscape of plain. Now and 
then comes a launch puffing up the canal, and again a 
scow, with a lazy horse slowly tugging along the tow 
path, and the men swearing away at their horses. And 
if ever men could swear, it was those canal boat men, 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 43 

plain, fancy and mixed, with every variation possible 
to a life long training in profanity. 

But the chief thing by which I remember this 
country is the scarcity of water, due to the flat country 
in w^hich there is always a lack of drainage. The farm- 
ers procure their water from back in the hills, carrying 
it in barrels in their wagons. And then, people along 
here seem to be very poor, for the most part, and not 
hospitable like the farmers generally are. These two 
circumstances combined made it hard for me to get 
enough to drink, and I certainly wanted to drink, for 
the sun was high, and I found very little shade on the 
way, especially during Monday, the second day from 
Lake George. 

All day long that Sunday I hurried through little 
towns, with the people on their way to church, and 
hearing the cadence of ringing church bells in the vil- 
lages far away, and all afternoon meeting people out 
walking, stopping to stare after me, and dogs following 
suit by barking at me from almost every fence. And 
thus I traveled all day, passing through Comstock, Fort 
Ann, and late in the afternoon. Smith's Basin. I pitched 
camp about half way between Smith's Basin and Fort 
Edward, having covered over thirty-two miles, the 
best day's journey, in point of distance, without the aid 
of wagons, of my whole trip. 

The spot which I choose to sleep on, was near the 
canal, something which I rued later, for with the set- 
ting sun came swarms of mosquitoes, feeding on me 
like carrion. But it was too dark to look for another 
site, so wrapping my blanket over my face, I fell asleep. 

Distance for day 32 miles, total 140. 



44 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER IX. 



Eighth Day. Monday, August I J. 

In the morning the poncho was dripping with dew 
on the outside, which I ascribed to the fact that I 
was getting down into the lower county of the Hudson 
River, where the atmosphere is heavy and humid. 

After cooking breakfast of oatmeal, coffee, and 
the remainder of some cakes bought in Whitehall, I 
was off, reaching Fort Edward a little after sunrise. 
Fort Edward is but little more lively than the places 
I had passed through the day before, except that here 
there is a railroad junction, and it is also the terminal 
for the trolley line btween Fort Edward and Troy 
which runs down the Hudson Valley. Here in Fort 
Edward I had almost to pay for a drink of water. 

Below Fort Edward I met the "noble" Hudson, 
with its nobleness disguised in mud, looking more like 
a monster sewer. It might be mistaken for the Tiber, 
just below the Maxima Gloaca. 

All I remember now of this day is that it was 
hot, and that the country vv^as all of the same dreariness. 
There was the canal, the sluggish river, the road, the 
almost level plain, and then the same all over again. 
Now and then one of the long distance trolleys would 
fly by with the speed of an express train and my view 



A TRAJMP ACROSiS THREE STATES 45 

would be obscured with a cloud of dust, and in a little 
while I should see the trolley disappearing around a 
curve, and then the same monotony. Once during the 
day I got a few apples, including some crab apples, 
discovering thereby that the country had a few trees 
after all. Toward afternoon, after I had passed Moses 
Kill, I was invited into a wagon drawn by a fast team 
of horses. The driver was a vivacious sort of a fellovv^, 
and between laughing and talking I found myself in 
Fort Miller where we parted before we knew it. Here 
in Fort Miller there was some excavating being done 
in the construction of the new barge canal. It was not 
long after that I passed through Northumberland, and 
Schuylerville, which is quite large and pleasant, and 
contains a few factories. Here also is erected a monu- 
ment to the inhabitants of the town, who, in the early 
days before the revolution had been entirely wiped out 
in an Indian massacre. 

I travelled the remainder of that day without meet- 
ing any towns or many people. Toward evening, two 
young fellows passed up the canal in a canoe, probably 
on their way to Champlain. About the only other sign 
of life was a few boys swimming in the canal, and an 
occasional scow passing through a lock, about the slow- 
est operation I have ever seen, considering the scnall 
amount of work necessary. The men who mind these 
locks, remind one of a cat who spends most of its life 
basking in the sun. The only difference is that the 
cat doesn't smoke an old clay pipe. 

One other thing I noticed here in New York State 
which is not true of New England. However small a 
community may be, it has its saloon, or rather, excuse 
for one, where there are always a few loungers around 



46 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

basking in the sun, just like the canal men, and who 
remind me of a man I once knew, who, while his wife 
was in the basement doing washing for a living, sat 
smoking on the veranda, a picture of comfort and 
imperturbability, and apparently of a free conscience. 

That night I slept in a barn, French leave. It 
happened this way: As I trudged along the tow path, 
rather tired, looking for a suitable place to sleep in, I 
spied a field with a large spreading tree in one part. 
I started for this, and in turning the corner of the old 
barn, noticed one of the boards ripped out of the back, 
near the ground. It came to me that I might find 
shelter within; so looking around and seeing no one, 
I peeped in. In the dim light I could see that the 
building was empty, which assured me that certainly 
no one would disturb me over night, if I slept there. 
I stepped in, and climbing som^e rafters^, was soon in the 
loft fumbling around to the music of creaking boards 
and scurrying rats down below — there must have been 
millions of them, but they could not reach me, and their 
company at a distance was preferable to swarms of 
mosquitoes in the open. 

Distance for day 25 miles, total 165 miles. 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 47 



CHAPTER X. 

Ninth Day. Tuesday, August 1 4. 

All the next day I walked without passing through 
a town. My route along here was straight down the 
Hudson River Valley, in a dreary, scarcely inhabitated 
country, while the line of towns were on the railroad, 
which diverges to the west at Fort Edward and returns 
to the Hudson Valley again at Mechanicville. The 
river along here is sluggish and almost stagnant, al- 
though there is a slight current, the country being above 
the tide reach, while the country itself was at places on 
such a dead level that the river flooded through the 
woods and fields, making a sort of swamp with the road 
winding through it by following the high spots. There 
were very few farms and those exceedingly poor, and 
pure water was almost as scarce as gold. Many times 
during the day I felt like a dog with its tongue hanging 
out. Here and there I saw one of those chain ferries. 
Once in a while a trolley would fly by, but few other 
signs of life did I see except when a puffing automobile 
flew by, a strange sight in that country. It struck me 
that it was probably lost, and I wished it luck. 

Towards night, I was somew^here near Bemis 
Heights, and here I decided to try my luck with a lean- 
to, something I had heard a great deal about, and had 
been thinking over all day. 



48 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

Now, a lean-to is one of the most wonder- 
ful things possible to the out-of-doors. To the 
inexperienced eye it seems to be the last thing 
in the world to afford shelter, yet, on a cold or 
rainy night, or in a forest where the air is always damp 
at night, a lean-to is warmer and drier than any other 
kind of a tent, excepting possibly a tepee or ^Vigwam," 
which is, of course, out of the question for itinerant 
camping, on account of the number of poles (fourteen 
or fifteen) necessary in its erection. A lean-to is built 
with the back to windward, and a blazing fire in front, 
the near edge of the fire about eighteen inches from 
the edge of the lean-to, and the fire is backed up by 
some logs or a large flat stone, so that practically all 
the heat is thrown into the shelter, and the lean-to, on 
account of its shape and small size, retains the heat, with 
the result that on the wetest and coldest nights, the air 
and ground within it are warm and dry. Such a fire 
can be kept burning all night long without replenishing 
more than once before morning, if good stout logs are 
used. In the case of a wall tent, it will keep out rain, 
but its very construction precludes the possibility of a 
fire, and I remember many nights at Lake Sunapee 
when the cold penetrated through several blankets, 
making it impossible to keep warm. Of course, there 
is always the possibility of the wind changing, but 
then the lean-to can be shifted, if properly made, and if 
there is no rain and the night warm, it is hardly 
necessary to shift it. 

Lean-tos can be made in different ways, depending 
upon the possibilities of the surrounding woods, but 
my idea is somewhat as follows : Drive into the ground 
about six or seven feet apart, two stout sticks having 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 49 

forks at the top (saplings if procurable, because the}' 
are always straight) ; across these, from fork to fork, 
lay another sapling or straight branch of a tree; then 
lay against this cross piece, several pieces six inches 
apart, with the other ends of them on the ground, and 
running down at an angle of about thirty-five degrees; 
then, after laying a layer of brushwood as net work, 
lay some sod, or moss, if any at hand, or leaves, being 
careful to have the higher layers overlap the lowxr ones, 
on the same principle as laying shingles, so that rain 
wall drain off from layer to layer without soaking 
through. It needs a very skillful hand to make a lean-to 
watertight in a heavy rain. If leaves or such light 
material is used, it is necessary to lay some heavy sticks 
or light timbers on top of them to 'prevent the wind 
from blowing off the material. In the case of rain, 
the w^ind usually blows at a sufficient angle over the 
front of the lean-to to strike beyond the fire, or in case 
of a steady dow^npour sufficient to quench the fire, it 
can be saved by stretching something over it, something 
not combustible. Heavy rains are not generally of long 
duration, so that even a large frying pan cover tied to a 
stick, and held over the centre of the fire will save it 
until the deluge eases up. The average rain storm will 
not put out a good fire, or even affect it. On account of 
this fire problem, and to give it a proper tilt for shed- 
ding rain, the front of the lean-to should be six feet high, 
and the fire not more than a foot and a half away. 
The rubber poncho is spread on the ground making it 
doubly dry. 

A lean-to takes considerable time to build, and 
moreover, it is draughty at the sides. Both these ob- 
jections can be obviated by earring a lean-to tent, which 



50 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

has sides, and which can be put up by tying a sapling 
to two trees horizontally, and attaching the front of the 
tent to it, and then staking in the sides and back all 
around. A still greater improvement is what is called a 
shanty tent, which is the same as a lean-to, except that 
it has a little wall in the back, one or two feet high, 
thus saving a lot of waste space, for you cannot very 
well take advantage of the extreme back space of a 
lean-to, it being too low. In the case of the shanty tent 
it is necessary to have guy ropes leading to stakes from 
the top of the back wall, just as in the side walls of a 
wall tent. The shanty tent is the type I shall always 
use in future trips. The conical tent I had started with 
was very light, but had no capacity, being all waste 
space. One person could lie in it, but no more could 
do so with comfort, A lean-to or shanty tent six feet 
high, with a roof seven feet deep and eight feet wide, 
and a wall in the back of two feet, would have a capacity 
for three or even four, and would not weigh, even after 
being waterproofed, more than twelve pounds, whereas 
a wall tent of equal capacity would weigh fifteen to 
twenty pounds, and in erecting a wall tent, three poles 
would have to be cut, and of a definite length, as against 
one of almost any length for the shanty, and in the case 
of the wall tent there would be more staking and pull- 
ing of guy ropes. A shanty tent for two persons could 
be made at a weight of eight or nine pounds. A flap 
is not necessary, as in rainy weather, the only time you 
would think of using it, is just the time you want the 
fire to throw its heat in. However, this applies only 
to tramping and camping in out-of-the-way places. 
In a populated summer resort you would have to have 
the tent closed during certain hours. 



A TRAMP ACRO'SIS THREE STATES 51 

The lean-to I made in this particular case was of 
leaves, and rather carelessly put up, as the night was 
clear. However, I welcomed the warm little hre be- 
cause the air was damp, and it furthemore drove av/iy 
the mosquitoes. I did not build another lean-to on my 
trip because of the amount of time it takes one man 
to do it, and the mosquito question was settled by pur- 
chasing some netting in Albany, and altogether, as the 
nights were clear, there was no need of it. 

Distance for day 20 miles, total 185 miles. 



52 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER XI. 

Tenth Day. fVe-dnesday, August I^th. 

Early in the morning I was passing through Bemis 
Heights, just as people were beginning to stir. A man 
driving a buckboard came along just then, and I 
caught a ride through the town, which is very pleasant 
at the part I saw, with its broad main street, shaded by 
tall, spreading trees. 

It was an intensely hot day, and the white dust 
filling the air in the wake of the wagons was choking. 
Through this dust I plodded on through Stillwater to 
Mechanicville. My lasting impression of Mechanic- 
ville is of smoke and noise and railroads and factories. 
Iris quite a large place, and the busiest since Whitehall. 
But I was soon out of it, taking the tracks of the Dela- 
ware & Hudson south. Just along here were some men 
putting bond wires in the tracks for the electric auto- 
matic signal system being installed. The foreman was 
looking for men, and offered me a job at two dollars a 
day, a job that would have lasted for nine weeks, he 
said. He was so robust and big a fellow, that I didn't 
have any inclination to talk to him as I had to the 
farmer a few days before, so passed on without adven- 
ture. I crossed the canal here to the public road, in 
order to see the passing show of automobiles, for the 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 53 

racing season was on at Saratoga, and automobiles from 
New York, Albany and other cities passed along, some 
at terrific speed, for the run between New York and 
Saratoga could be made in a day by hustling, which 
is pretty near two hundred miles. They seemed regard- 
less of police or constables. Some automobilists think 
that when they are in the country there is nobody 
around, and no people to run over, and no wagons to 
hit, so they just naturally ''hit it up," with the result 
that people have to be ever on the lookout for them, 
especially on the main roads, like that on which I was 
traveling. Every once in a while, on some morning 
after a very dark night, at a point just around a curve, 
a man is found in a ditch, with no clue to the machine 
which struck him. And along this road constables were 
conspicuous by their absence, and no one seemed inter- 
ested in stopping any of the "pesky" machines, every- 
body being too busy watching out on their own account. 
It was actually dangerous the way some of those ma- 
chines would start late from Saratoga and try to make 
New York by night. 

Somehow or other I didn't feel like walking that 
day, and yet it seemed decreed by fate that I should 
travel further than on any day of the trip. For, as I 
was enjoying myself jumping out of the path of sway- 
ing automobiles, along came an empty express v/agon, 
plying between Mechanicville and Lansingburg, and 
I promptly caught a ride. The wagon was drawn by a 
fast team of horses, and the road was pretty near dead 
level for miles. And how we did go. The only things 
that passed us were the automobiles and trains. In 
about an hour we had traveled ten miles, and were at 
Lansingburg, where I left the driver, with whom by 



64 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

this time I had become fast friends, for he at once be- 
came interested in my travels, thinking at first that I 
was doing it on a wager, and telling me many stories 
of friends making long trips of the same nature. Then 
he passed over the bridge into Lansingburg. I was 
stiff and sore after walking and then sitting down for 
so long a time, but I continued on towards West Troy, 
which I reached in an hour or so, and before noon was 
across the river in Troy. Troy was so familiar to me 
by old acquaintance that I saw nothing of interest in it. 
In fact, the same is true to some extent to the whole 
Hudson Valley. However, in Tioy I did no mean 
justice to my stomach. 

From Troy almost to Rensselaer I caught another 
''hitch." The road is rather roundabout, but pleasant, 
ana oeautifully constructed. Along the road here, I 
noticed what struck me as rather peculiar, but w^as not 
so strange when I reasoned it out, a blacksmith's shop 
standing alongside the road about three miles from 
either Troy or Rensselaer. I should just as much expect 
to see a confectionery store. 

Reaching Rensselaer, I immediately crossed over 
to Albany, and marched up the hill to see the capitol. 
I might say that in both Troy and Albany I was the 
cynosure of all eyes, probably suggesting to the crowd 
a new type of hobo. But the capitol was just the same 
as when I had last seen it, so I did not bother much 
about it, except to walk around it to see if it was all 
there. Then I made a varied and lengthy test of Albany 
soda, after which proceeding I found it necessary to 
loosen my belt several holes. 

I spent little time after that in Albany, except to 
buy some mosquito netting to spread over my head at 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 55 

night, supported by some little sticks. At five o'clock 
I was across the river and again passing through Rens- 
selaer southward toward New York. Tired and hungry, 
I stopped off for the night about half way between 
Rensselaer and Castleton. 

Distance for day 40 miles, total 225. 



ec A TRAMP A'^ROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER XII. 

Eleventh Day. Thursday, August l6. 

The days spent in traveling down the Hudson were 
not filled with the same interest I had experienced on 
the earlier part of the trip. There were probably many 
reasons for this. In the first place, I was already so 
familiar with the H[udson that its beauty was somewhat 
old to me. Again, being nearly on sea level, the humid- 
ity was greater, so I felt the heat considerably. 

The Hudson along here is more like the descrip- 
tions of the Mississippi — full of swamps and morasses 
and thickly wooded islands, with tv/o or three channels 
at the same section, with possibly only one deep enough 
to be navigable for the big boats. 

During the day I passed through Castleton, Scho- 
dack Landing, Stuyvesant, Newton Hook, Stockport, 
Hudson and Greendale, and came within a couple of 
miles of Linlithgo. Most of these towns are very much 
alike from the railroad tracks, small and quiet, with 
all the fences along the track dark gray from the smoke 
and soot of the passing trains. Hudson, however, is 
quite a large and busy town, rather smoky, especially 
near the railroad, for here the railroad has a lot of 
sidings and there is considerable noise of engines puff- 
ing and switching about. 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 57 

All the tramps I did not meet in New England 
seemed to be ^'hiking" along here, all ages and degrees 
of poverty depicted in their clothes and faces. And a 
few of them looked rather desperate. They all seemed 
to take me as a new and inscrutable specimen of hobo, 
traveling like themselves, but evidently not so far from 
a square meal. Judging from their attitude toward me, 
there seems nothing so strange to a tramp as seeing 
someone walking who can afford to ride. They cannot 
see anything in it 

The day was rather uneventful, but towards night, 
as I was nearing Greendale, I came upon the most 
murderous looking bunch of niggers I have ever beheld. 
It seems that they were working along the river on some 
big laboring job, and were temporarily housed in a 
long, wooden shack. Their supper was just about 
over, and just outside the shack about sixty of them, 
with nothing much more on than a pair of trousers, and 
looking like a lot of guerillas, were engaged in a game 
of crap. When sixty big, husky niggers all get in one 
crap game, there's going to be some uproar. And 
there sure was, with them all talking and shouting at 
the same time. 

^'Hey, you niga, put down dat neekle now, put down 
dat neekle." 

" ■■ it, why don't you shoot?" 

''A'm broke, you all has busted me." 

"Uh, come seven, come eleven." 

'Ah say, Sylvester, len' me two bitts." 

^'Ah's only got six cents maself." 

(General volcanic eruptions and verbal pyrotech- 
nics.) 



58 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

However, I hurried on, as it was getting dark and 
I did not like their ominous looks. 

I stopped that night a mile or so north of Linlithgo, 
near a spring where I made a bed of some soft brush- 
wood. Wrapping myself in the poncho I lay dreaming 
under the stars, for it was a beautiful night, clear and 
still, the only sound audible being the little spring a few 
yards off. 

Distance for day 29 miles, total 254. 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 59 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Twelfth Day. Friday, August I J. 

It was rather late when I arose next morning, and 
cooked my simple victuals near the spring. But soon 
after I was passing through Linlithgo and on toward 
Germantown. 

During that day I met and talked to a number of 
tramps. Somehow or other, they all seemed to be a 
sort of series, like one big family. Each of them car- 
ried a collection of old and curious things, especially 
in the line of clothes. One fellow had, besides the 
pair of shoes on his feet, one very good shoe in his pack. 
He said that he might find another good one to match 
it fairly well and he would then discard the old ones. 
I made a companion of one with a greasy frock coat 
and old rawhide boots. He wanted me to give him ten 
cents to help him get an ''executive" job, which he said 
was awaiting him somewhere in New York. I pondered 
on the significance of his remark for some time, but 
gave it up as beyond my intelligence. 

By this time I was getting used to seeing the Albany 
Day Line and the Troy night boats pass up and down 
the river, and looked for them, each day as a part of my 
program. The day boats were always crowded, and 
as the river is not very wide along there, I usually re- 



60 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

ceived a response from those aboard when I waved my 
handkerchief. And I tried to figure out the speed of 
the boats by judging the difference of time I met them 
at a place so many miles below^ where I met them the 
day before. For instance, if I were thirty miles one 
day below where I had been at a certain time the day 
previous, and I met the up boat two hours earlier, it 
would indicate that the boat traveled 15 miles per hour. 
But somehow, my calculations didn't w^ork out right, 
and I gave up this mathematical problem and put it in 
the same class as that remark of the tramp about the 
"executive" job. 

As 1 traveled towards New York, the heat became 
oppressive, and I often took a little siesta about noon, 
spending two hours, instead of the usual one, eating my 
midday meal. 

That day, between Barry town and Rhineclifif, I 
saw a spectacular little fire. An old wooden shanty 
between the railroad tracks and the river went up like 
tinder. Although it was in an out-of-the-way place, 
yet men came running from up and down the river, and 
we had quite a large collection of men who talked a 
great deal, but didn't do anything. However, there 
wasn't much to be done. Water could only be carried 
in pails, of which there were very few about, and in 
five minutes what had been the shanty was glowing 
embers. It was empty at the time, so didn't occasion 
much loss. 

This day I enjoyed a swim and bath in the Hudson, 
although the water of the Hudson is questionable when 
it comes to taking a bath. I had also to wash some 
clothes, on account of my limited wardrobe, for I 
could not carry fifteen or sixteen trunks as some people 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 61 

do when traveling, even in that fashion. Steward 
Edward White, in his book, 'The Forest," tells of a 
man who made a long trip through the forests of Can- 
ada with a retinue of something like a dozen men carry- 
ing his outfit, toting along about everything short of a 
house. But in my case, I was rather short. 

At that part of the river there are few buildings 
along the water front, excepting ice houses of the 
i\merican Ice Company. But for miles and miles there 
are dozens and dozens of these great, square, plain 
structures, all painted yellow, with barges alongside 
loading up with ice for New York, probably. 

During the day I passed through Linlithgo, Ger- 
mantown, Tivili, Barrytown, Rhinceliff and Staatsburg, 
stopping for the night between the latter place and 
Hyde Park. These places are well abreast of the Cats- 
kills, which were grand in the sunset glow. The Cats- 
kills are just far enough from the river to seem to recede 
to a greater height than is really true, and give that 
majestic appearance which many higher mountains do 
not have. From the river too, one could see a few 
hotels on the mountains, and an Otis elevator leading 
up to one of them from near the river. The glory of 
the ''everlasting hills" makes a great deal of the dififer- 
ence between city and country, something which a per- 
son realizes when looking at the Catskills from the river, 
especially in the evening. 

Distance for day 28 miles, total 282. 



62 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Thirteenth Day. Saturday^ August l8. 

Before people were up next morning, I was stir- 
ring and on my way to Poughkeepsie. 

Near the towns I usually saw boys in swimming, 
and once or twice took a dip myself, washing some 
clothes at the same time, and waiting for the hot sun 
and breeze to dry them. Once or twice I came on 
some boys engaged in that good old game of, 

''Char-OS beef, the beef is tough, 
Char-os beef, and you'll never get enough," 
tying one another's clothes until the knots would take 
about forever to undo. 

Now and then I saw a patient old chap sitting with 
a bamboo rod and dobber, with a few ''sunnies" or 
^'cats" on a string alongside of him. Judging from 
their small catches, there did not seem to be many fish 
in the Hudson River, at least at that time of the year. 
I remember spending a half day on a dock on the 
Hudson in the Highlands without getting even a bite. 
In fact, the Spring of the year is the only time to catch 
fish in the Hudson. However, there are many lakes 
in the Highlands, to say nothing of the Catskills, where 
fish are plentiful. I believe the trouble with that river 
is that it is putrid with sewerage. And yet, I believe 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 63 

that some of the towns along the Hudson draw their 
drinking water from the river, among them Pough- 
keepsie, if I am not mistaken. 

As I was walking along the railroad tracks here I 
found it necessary to keep a sharp lookout for trains, 
for there is a great deal of traffic along the Hudson 
River Division of the New York Central, and being 
so straight and level, as railroads go, the trains fly by 
with terrific speed. It was near Poughkeepsie on this 
day that I saw a great, shaggy dog run over. It looked 
like a very old dog, without very much energy, and 
possibly with poor sight and hearing, jogging along 
the tracks. When the train struck it, it gave one great 
yelp and landed alongside the tracks about thirty or 
forty feet away. There it lay quivering for a few min- 
utes, and then died. An old man, the owner of the 
dog, came out of a little house nearby and stood swear- 
ing at the train for several minutes, and then wanted 
to know what in thunder I was looking at, and if it 
was any of my business if his dog was killed. Oh, but 
he was mad, and tried to vent it on anything in sight, 
but I went on my way. 

As I neared Poughkeepsie, I was accosted several 
times by strike pickets who thought I might be coming 
in to break a strike on in that town at some big manu- 
factory. It seemed that they expected men from out 
of town to be brought in and put to work and were 
waiting on the tracks and roads to argue the matter 
with any possible strike breakers, and try to dissuade 
them from their evil ways. In some cases it took a 
certain amount of sarcasm to make them see that I 
could not very well be a strike breaker, in view of my 



64 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

outfit and general appearance. Possibly they thought 
I was sneaking in, in disguise. 

However, I went into the town and walked around 
a bit, visiting the Vassar Museum, and got a distant 
view of the college, which is quite a ways outside the 
town, and which 1 had never seen before, although I 
had been in Poughkeepsie several times. I was then 
pretty hungry and went into a wagon lunch and re- 
freshed the inner man. 

Poughkeepsie at the time of the annual regatta of 
the colleges is a very lively place, from above the bridge 
to far below the town, but at that time it was very quiet 
indeed, and hardly seemed like a regatta town from its 
sleepy appearance. 

It was about 1 1 :oo o'clock when I left Poughkeep- 
sie, hurrying a little, with the purpose of reaching Cold 
Spring, twenty-five miles below, before dark, for some 
relatives live there, and I wished to make their house by 
night and sleep in a bed for the second time on the trip, 
the first being in a hotel at Fairhaven, Vermont. 

The afternoon of that day, August i8, was about 
as hot as I remember on the trip, and the perspiration 
streamed from my face almost steadily. Yet, strange 
to say, I had so lost all superfluous flesh and was in such 
fine fettle that I did not feel any discomfort from the 
heat. I did not even seek the shady side of the track 
when there was one. In fact, it was more or less in- 
cidental that I noticed the heat. And this, I think, 
explains somewhat why a person living in the tropics 
after being brought up in a temperate climate, can be- 
come inured to the heat, and almost be a native in that 
respect. Such will be found to be the case among the 
Britishers in India, who, in the terrific heat of sum- 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 65 

mer, endure the high temperature almost as well as the 
natives. 

While the afternoon was still young, I passed 
through Camelot and New Hamburgh, and before four 
was in Fishkill Landing, opposite Newburgh, where I 
again had something to eat. Fishkill Landing was 
full of fond recollections to me, and I roamed about the 
town a while after eating. 

Oflf Duchess Junction, a little below Fishkill, is 
a little island about a quarter mile off shore, and on 
this island is the factory of Bannerman, from whom 1 
had. purchased my poncho. It is a most unusual place 
for a factory, and with its high walls looks a good 
deal like a fort. 

Just below Breakneck, at the foot of Bull Hill 
(Mt. Taurus), there is a long watering trough, about a 
half mile in length, between the tracks, so that locomo- 
tives, by means of a chute underneath, can scoop up 
the v/ater without stopping, and thus obviate the delay 
of the old watering tanks. However, although I had 
seen these before and had heard how they operated, I 
did not realize the general drenching given the nearby 
landscape. I was standing near the end of this water- 
ing trough when a train came along, and suddenly I 
saw water flying out from under the train to both sides 
for about ten or fifteen feet. But, luckily for me, the 
train was coming from the far direction, and I had 
time to run beyond the near end in time to avoid a 
drenching. 

From there I followed the wagon road into Cold 
Spring, and about dusk was in my aunt's house, unex- 
pectedly, for I had not been in a position to know just 
when I should arrive, so had not notified them of my 



66 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

coming beforehand. However, after talking a while, 
I had supper and spent the rest of the evening resting 
before going to bed, a very weary young man, for it 
had been a long day's tramp. 

Distance for day 30 miles, total 311. 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 67 



CHAPTER XV. 

Fourte'enth Day. Sunday, August IQ. 



All Sunday I stayed in Cold Spring. Cold Spring 
is the site of the old West Point Foundry which mac^q 
guns for the government, which work is now removed 
to the arsenal at Watervliet. At the railroad station ir^ 
Cold Spring there is a spring where Washington is 
supposed to have drank while passing though that town 
in the days of the revolution. As a matter of fact, 
the cold spring is over a fence below the railroad, while 
the spring at the station is very warm, but the railroad 
company uses it as an attraction along their route. As 
Cold Spring was not settled until about 1802, like as 
not the whole story is a myth. 

Just outside Cold Spring, to the northwest is Bull 
Hill, among the highest of the Highlands. Sunday 
Afternoon I climbed it, following a winding road. 
Going up this road I disturbed a partridge which made 
my hair stand straight. The tremendous rush of wings 
made by a partridge when taking flight seems altogether 
out of proportion to its size. In New Hampshire I was 
once threading my way through some underbrush on 
a very dark night when I disturbed a partridge, and I 
think my life must have been shortened about a year. 
The suddenness and strength of the flight of a partridge 



68 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATEi& 

is more like what I imagine to be that of an eagle. 

It takes about an hour and a half to reach the top 
of Bull Hill, but from the top is obtained one of the 
finest views in New York State. From one side one 
can look down on Cold Spring, the parade ground over 
on West Point , on the northern part of Rockland 
County, and on down the river to Peekskill Bay in 
Westchester County, and, of course, Putnam County, 
and even back over the Connecticut line. From the 
other side of the mountain, one can look down on Mt. 
Beacon, advertised to be the highest in the Highlands, 
and ofif on the other side of the river can be seen Corn- 
wall and Newburg, and directly behind Newburg, 
about seven miles. Orange Lake, and a great part of 
Putnam, Duchess, Orange, Ulster and a little of Sulli- 
van counties. And from a certain vantage spot one 
can look down on Lake Surprise, in a divide directly 
below to the north. I followed a trail down the front 
of the mountain, and about half v/ay came out on what 
is known as Table Rock, which looks straight out over 
the Hudson half a mile off. It is a flat rock somewhat 
resembling a table, and over the edge is a sheer drop 
of several hundred feet, and many times in the history 
of Cold Spring people have slipped over, or been car- 
ried over by the strong winds, but not always killed, 
as below is a group of trees which has broken the fall 
and saved the lives of several persons. 

From Cold Spring to West Point there was a 
little launch ferry, the Juliette, or some such name, 
with a fare of twenty-five cents round trip. That after- 
noon I went over to the Point, and walked around 
among the old guns, and at five o'clock witnessed the 
dress parade and inspection of the cadets. Their smart 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 69 

appearance made me think of my own, with on old soft 
gray shirt and weather beaten cap and no coat at all 
and all brow^ned up like an Italian. On the way back 
in the launch, the wind was rather high and the water 
rough, and the old fellow who ran the launch was fear- 
ful lest the boat should come to harm, although he was 
an old boatman and some women aboard did not at all 
seem frightened, which is a pretty good test. 

As I wished to get pretty well down toward New 
York the next day, and anticipating hot weather, I 
went to bed early that night. 

About ten miles spent in walking around the moun- 
tains and at West Point, not included in the total dis- 
tance. 



70 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Fifteenth Day. Monday , August 20, 

From Cold Spring I followed the road. Along 
here through the Highlands is the most beautiful part 
of the Hudson Valley, winding, shady roads, with here 
and there a dashing brook running under a bridge, 
beautiful country estates, and now and then a glimpse 
of the river and the mountains beyond. As the trains 
rush on along both shores their whistles echo through 
the hills, a sound so unfamiliar in the city. One of the 
loveliest spots along the New York road is Indian Brook 
and Falls. It is about half way between Cold Spring 
and Garrison. After a sharp turn, you come to a 
little bridge over a deep gulch, and just above is the 
falls of chrystal pure water falling into a deep pool, 
and then on down the gulch the stream rushes under 
the bridge, shaded by evergreens with their deep sombre 
shade and rich odor, with only here and there a spot 
of sunlight dancing as the branches stir in the breeze. 
Here it is always cool. But here it is also dangerous 
for automobiles, for it is the meeting of two sharp turns 
in the road, one of them being at the bottom of a steep 
descent. On or near this bridge, there have been several 
collisions between automobiles, and one dark night some 
years ago, a man on a bicycle was killed. 

But if the Highlands are beautiful, they are also 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 71 

hilly, and I am sure that ten miles walking there is 
more fatiguing than fifteen or twenty along more level 
roads. There are some surprisingly il. 
winding ascents, and there seems to be no descents. 
And the dust in places is deep, and the roads rough, and 
not at all in harmony with the scenery. 

It was down near Garrison (ferry for West Point) 
that I met an automobilist with a puncture and trying 
to change his tire, the sweat running ofif his face and 
swearing at his luck, for it seemed to be the second 
tire in a week. He was having a jolly time, and as I 
could not help him much, I went on my way rejoicing 
that I had no tires to puncture. 

I reached Peekskill before noon, after climbing 
hills about as high as Pike's Peak, and was ravenously 
hungry, so regaled myself in a restaurant. Peekskill 
is quite a large town, with a population of about ten 
thousand. Along the tracks and facing the river is the 
Fleischman Yeast Company, prominent among its 
manufactories. 

From. Peekskill the road passes through Oscawan- 
na, Croton, Ossining and on through Tarr^^town. Along 
here are several interesting land marks, besides the 
interest of the towns themselves. For instance, between 
Croton and Ossining the Croton River enters the Hud- 
son, and the road here runs through a long, low marsh, 
and bridges over the Croton. And, of course, at Os- 
sining is Sing Sing states prison, which cannot be seen 
from the main road (Broadway), but only from the 
river. As I had been through the prison before, I did 
not bother about inspecting it again. (Of course, my 
visit to the prison had been voluntary). And then, just 
before entering Tarrytown is the bridge where Irving's 



72 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

headless horseman rode over, and in Tarrytown itself 
is a monument on the site of the capture of Major-Gen- 
eral Andre, the British spy. And about every church 
along here had tablets claiming Washington Irving as 
a former member, or trustee, or vestryman. 

At Tarrytown I ate supper, about five o'clock. 
Just at that time the Albany Day Line boat was lying 
off Tarrytown, evidently disabled, and the ferry w^hich 
plies between Tarrytown and Nyack was alongside 
rendering assistance. 

Talking about boats, I had often noticed that the 
Hudson River was very little used for pleasure boating. 
One of the most beautiful and most picturesque rivers 
in the Vv^orld, with one hundred and fifty miles of navi- 
gable water, yet one can scarcely find a pleasure boat, 
except now and then on a Sunday, a few launches. Why 
this is so is difficult to understand, when we consider 
that such waters as Long Island Sound and the Shrews- 
bury River, which is very shallow, and in fact most all 
waters along the coast are very extensively appreciated. 
There are several large towns along the Hudson where 
it is difficult to hire a rowboat for a day's fishing, and 
as for hiring a sailboat, it would be impossible. 

Another thing which struck me as I traveled down 
the river was the large number of wrecked or abandon- 
ed schooners on shore. Probably there is not a stretch of 
five miles along the river where you cannot find the 
rotting hull of some old brick or lumber schooner on 
some shoal or beach. In the old days, when the rail- 
roads and steamboats were young, there was quite a 
fleet of sailing schooners, and some of their owners and 
skippers are still living along the Hudson River towns. 
Possibly the wrecks are these old boats. 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 73 

I Stopped for the night below Tarrytown, near 
Ardsley. In fact, I slept almost on the golf links of 
the Ardsley Club. 

Distance for day^ 32 miles, total 343. 



74 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 



CHAPTER XVIL 

Sixteenth Day. Tuesday, August 21. 
Home at hast. Summary. 

When I started again next day I fully intended to 
walk right on home to New York. But after covering 
three miles and reaching Hastings I saw a trolley car, 
and being tempted, fell, so near the end of my journey. 
As far as that goes, walking on paved side walks is 
rather tiring anyhow, so I had that much excuse for 
riding. 

The trolley runs down Warburton Avenue, Yon- 
kers, into Getty Square, and then by transferring to the 
Mt. Vernon car and on down Jerome Avenue and 
through i6ist Street and Third Avenue, I reached home 
about nine o'clock, to the great surprise of my folks, 
whom I did not notify of my coming, and who thought 
I was up in New Hampshire. 

Distance: 3 miles walking, 14 miles trolley, 17 

miles; total for trip 360 miles. 

* * * ,* 

As I had started at 1 1 :oo o'clock on the 6th day 
of August, and reached home at 9 :oo o'clock on the 21st, 
I had been out less than fifteen days. In that time I 
had walked less than thirteen days, rested two days, 
had walked 326 miles, rode 20 in wagons, and 14 in 



A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 75 

trolleys and the total of distance including the two days* 
rest had been made at an average of 24 miles a day. 
During that time I had passed through three states, 
twelve counties and ninety-three cities and villages. 
When I first went to New Hampshire from New York, 
I weighed 140 pounds; at Lake Sunapee I gained 20 
pounds and when I reached home I weighed 130, mak- 
ing a loss on the trip of 30 pounds, but I was in finer 
fettle than when the summer began. I believe that if 
I had continued on for a longer distance and struck a 
cool spell of weather, I should have begun to gain in 
weight. At least I should not have lost any more. The 
entire expenses of the trip had been $1 1.60, but if I had 
not spent unnecessary money in the cities I passed 
through, the bare expenses could have been cut down 
to $3.50. 

In the foregoing chapters I have said something 
about my general outfit, but it might be well to say 
something about possible foods to be carried on such a 
trip. Of course, in passing through a well populated 
country, almost anything can be bought in town and 
carried outside to the camp fire. But there are cer- 
tain foods which are better than others for carrying in 
a district where there are but few towns, on account 
of their non-spoiling qualities, or lightness, or the fact 
that a little will amount to much when cooked. Aside 
from sugar, salt and pepper carried in small bags, they 
are as follows : Coffee, tea, bacon, ham, oatmeal, rice, 
Indian meal, potato chips, dried codfish, bouillon cubes, 
and flour and baking powder for making frying-pan 
bread. With the foregoing list and a waterproof match 
box, you could go through the wilderness for weeks 
without starving, to say nothing of hunting and fishing. 



76 A TRAMP ACROSS THREE STATES 

Although the trip had been attended by some dis- 
comforts and unpleasant things, yet I thoroughly en- 
joyed it, and it was an experience which I can never 
forget. It w^as my first long trip, but not my last. Pos- 
sibly the freedom and all around pleasure of w^alking 
w^ould appeal to most people, if they could realize the 
possibilities of walking, but most people do not and 
never will come to this realization. People generally 
become tired quickly when exercising in that way, and 
forget that exercise gradually strengthens the muscles, 
until they are able to walk all day without becoming 
more tired than when engaged in some other pastime. 
I can attest this condition with my own experience, 
which I trust will encourage at least a few. 

(Dated) Fall of 1906. 



AUG 1 mi 



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